As stated in the Mparnwe (Alice Springs) Education Declaration (Education Council 2019), Australian Schools have a responsibility to provide an equitable and quality education to all students. Educational attainment for all Australians has been linked to income, social participation and health outcomes upon graduands leaving high school.
Learning Excellence (LEX) at Emmanuel Catholic College acknowledges and more importantly celebrates neurodiversity and places a significant focus on both social and academic outcomes for students using a tiered approach to configuring types of support. Our motto is “One Size Doesn’t Fit All”; the personalisation of education is a crucial piece of the puzzle in order to achieve the necessary transformation of Education at ECC.
The LEX Team, in line with the new strategic vision of the College, configures support for students who have been identified as academically gifted, twice exceptional or students with additional needs or disabilities including both classical medical and learning disorders. The LEX department is a support vehicle for families, guardians, teachers and students; community engagement is critical, whilst ongoing community feedback is integral to our growth.
The LEX department, in collaboration with other Teaching Staff, is responsible for delivering Learning Support, Education Support and the Gifted and Talented Programme, Catalyst. The main vehicle of Education Support at the College is in the careful appointment and allocation of Education Assistants across students’ classes as well as the provision of the mosaic of subjects to pique the interest and pitch content at the appropriate ability level. The 2023 Transformative approach of timetabling longer learning blocks for lower school student each week has an evident rationale in contemporary educational literature as ultimately supporting neurodiverse students.
The LEX Team strives to work with College staff to up-skill Teachers in their approach and their understanding of difference as well as differentiation in the classroom. We work collaboratively to promote a shared understanding of the Disability Standards for Education as well as Teacher awareness of the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data for students with a Disability (NCCD).
The Learning Excellence Team endeavours to act as one of the many safety-nets the College can offer in terms of providing recommendations to families, provide advocacy within the College, provide student referrals to the College Counselling Team and Pastoral Staff and is also responsible for the construction of individualised Education or Personal Learning Plans. LEX also work with medical professionals and psychologists to recommend and oversee relevant Adjustments for students in the classroom.
Collaboration, communication and discretion are the characteristics that define success when it comes to aiding students and their families. Our College welcomes external service providers and the LEX Team configure staffing to implement the strategies used by Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists and other external facilitation Staff for students to which this applies.